7 August – UK – Beech Tree Private Equity today announces an investment in CovertSwarm, a leading red team-as-a-service and cyber-attack simulation platform. Beech Tree’s investment will support CovertSwarm’s ambitious organic growth strategy and accelerate the development of its proprietary “Offensive Operations Center” software.

CovertSwarm was founded by Anders Reeves in 2020 with the aim of radically redefining how enterprise security risks are discovered. CovertSwarm’s mission is to continually outpace the cyber threats faced by its clients, using a constant cyber-attack subscription methodology. 

The business employs a “Swarm” of multi-skilled ethical hackers spread across the globe which, supported by its proprietary Offensive Operations Center (“OOC”) software, enables CovertSwarm to provide constant testing of its customer’s infrastructure, through a combination of digital, physical and social attacks to spot weaknesses well before the “bad actors” do. 

This innovative approach is disrupting the traditional penetration testing market, which is often narrowly scoped and only gives assurance at a given point in time. For fast past, dynamic enterprises that are constantly evolving, the traditional penetration test is simply no longer fit for purpose.

The business recently announced the launch of its OOC software to the world – which aims to challenge costly ‘point’ solutions by providing immediate value to organisations, enabling them to gain a comprehensive understanding of their external attack surface in real-time, without incurring any costs.

This groundbreaking approach bridges the gap between Attack Surface Management products, SaaS-identified vulnerabilities, and the ability to validate and explore risks via CovertSwarm’s in-house red team. With just a simple ‘one click’ submission, organisations can request CovertSwarm ethical hacker testing and targeted red team attacks, streamlining the cyber risk lifecycle and enhancing security measures.

Anders Reeves, CEO at CovertSwarm said:

“We have been thrilled with the growth that we have achieved since we launched in 2020 and we see this investment from Beech Tree as the natural next step in our growth journey, allowing us to scale up even faster, accelerate our development plans for our OOC platform and ultimately ensure that we remain one step ahead of the “bad actors” out there”.

Commenting on the transaction, Adam Rudd, Partner at Beech Tree, said:

“It was clear from the first time that we met with Anders, and his business partner Luke Potter, that they were building something really special with CovertSwarm. The blend of human expertise from the Swarm of ethical hackers mixed with the power of the OOC software is a unique and compelling proposition in the market, which is changing the way enterprises think about cyber-attack services. We’re thrilled to be partnering with Anders, Luke, and the rest of the CovertSwarm team and are excited about the future plans for the business.” 

Funders of the transaction:

Beech Tree Private Equity (Adam Rudd, Ben Cartwright, Leigh Thomas)

Advisers to Beech Tree Private Equity and Newco:

Legal advisor – DLA Piper (James Kerrigan, Chris Wilson, Sam Jones, Jenni Entwisle)

Financial & tax due diligence – Dow Schofield Watts (Ed Brentnall, Rob Parker, Alex Aitchison, Declan Littler)

Tax structuring – Alverez & Marsal (Dafydd Williams, Nick Walton, Sophie Maskell)

Technology Diligence – Excentius (Paul Oliver, Sumesh Puthiyaveetil)

Insurance – AJ Gallaghers (Ian Muldowney)

Advisers to the Company:

Legal advisor – Cooley (Ben Shribman, Charlotte Irvine)

Corporate Finance – Setpoint Capital (Steve Cordiner)

About Beech Tree Private Equity‍

Beech Tree Private Equity invests £10-30m equity cheques into fast-growing profitable businesses in three key areas – technology, tech-enabled services, and financial services. Beech Tree works with Management teams to build scale and capability, bringing capital and expertise to drive these expansion strategies.

About CovertSwarm
Since 2020, CovertSwarm is a global ethical hacker and red team cyber security solution provider that has been radically redefining how enterprise security risks are discovered, with the business existing to continually outpace the cyber threats faced by organisations in the modern world. The business’ mission is simple: to constantly compromise businesses and highlight weaknesses well before the ‘bad actors’ do by using every possible weapon in the hacker’s arsenal and taking penetration testing right to the edge of simulating real-world threats.

For all press queries, please contact Tom Bestwick at [email protected].